Method of and mechanism for mechanically extracting the interconnecting threads between stitched books



March 28, 1933. o. KLEINSCHMIT ET AL 1,903,184

METHOD OF AND MECHANISM FOR MECHANICALLY EXTRACTING THE INTERCONNECTING THREADS BETWEEN STITCHED BOOKS Filed Feb. 11, 1951 6 Sheets-Sheet l March 28, 1933.

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METHOD OF AND MECHANISM FOR MECHANICALLY EXTRACTING THE INTERCONNECTING THREADS BETWEEN STITCHED BOOKS I I l l l I I l Ju 1s w MW a IMM March 28, 1933. o KLElNSCHMl-r AL 1303,184

' METHOD OF AND MECHANISM FOR MECHANICALLY EXTRACTING THE INTERCONNECTING THREADS BE'IWVEENv STITCHED BOOKS Filed Feb. 11, 1931 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 March 28. 1933. o. KLEINSCHMIT ET AL METHOD OF AND MECHANISM FOR MECHANICALLY EXTRACTING THE {NTERCONNECTING THREADS BETWEEN STITCHED BOOKS Filed Feb. 11, 1931 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 '3 a 414x7 1 33' fly) F 9 3551 35 56 "nil L" y;

O 2-. I I, "fljfl4 YWW March 28, 1933. Q KLE|N5HM|T ET AL 1.90:3,184

METHOD OF AND MECHANISM FOR MECHANICALLY EXTRACTING' THE INTERGONNECTING THREADS BETWEEN STITCHED BOOKS Filed Feb. 11, 1931 6 Sheets-v-Sheet 6 Patented Mar. 28, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

OSCAR KLEINSGHMIT AND OSKAR M'ULLER, OF LEIPZIG-PLAGWITZ, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR TO FIRM GEBRUDER BREIIMER, 0F LEIPZIG-PLAG'WITZ, GERMANY METHOD OF AND MECHANISM FOR- MECI-IANICALLY IXTRACTING THE INTERCOM- NEGTING THREADS IBETEVEEN STITCHED BOOKS Application filed February 11, 1931, Serial No. 515,068, and in Germanyv October 29, 1930.

The present invention relates to book stitching machines and more particularly concerns that type of machine in which book-sections are fed to stitching'means and progressed :therefrom in the'form of a continuously stitched book-pad comprising a series of completely stitched books which are joined together by interconnecting threads and which may or may not be provided with a backing stri T he severance of the thread or threads between the adjacent books and also the correct withdrawal of the interlooped threads after the severance thereof was hitherto performed by hand, although mechanically opermeans for mechanically extracting the terminal threads of such books when severed.

According to this invention a method is provided for mechanically extracting the terminal threads when severed between adjacent stitched books.

The fundamental principle of the invention is that at a predetermined period of the stitching operation, a wedge or the like is caused to engage the requisite stitched sections of a book-pad and so to separate the foremost completely stitched book from the remainder of the book-pad to render possible the correct extraction of the connecting threads which may be severed during the operative travel of the separating member or prior thereto. In order to control automatically the thread extracting means, the connecting threads when selected for severance are caused to trip blocking mechanism by which the actuation of the thread-extracting and also, if necessary, the thread-severing means is controlled. The thread extracting means may be arranged to operate transversely to the path of travel of the book-pad or, alternatively, parallel thereto and many Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective View of part of astitched book-pad, showing the alternative directions in which the threadextracting mechanism may operate. 7

Fig. 2 is an'elevational view of one constructional form of thread severing and extracting mechanism adapted to operate in a book-stitching machine of the usual swinging sheet carrier type.

Fig. 3 is a view of the mechanism looking in the direction of the arrow A, (Fig. 2).

Fig 4 is avicw corresponding to Fig. 2 and showing the foremost thread on' the thread-guide about to release the threadsevering andextracting mechanism during the advance of the boolcpa d.

Figs. 5 and 6 are views corresponding to Figs. 2 and 8 showing the thread-severing and extracting mechanism at the end of its working stroke.

Fig. 7 shows a diagrammatic plan view of a portion of the hook-pad stitched with straight rows of looped stitches and engaged by the thread-severing and extracting mechanism at the commencement of the working stroke of the latter.

Fig. 7a is a view similar to Fig. 7 but showing the thread-severing member engaging the thread to be severed.

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic View corresponding to Fig. 7 and showing the interconnecting thread severed and extracted during the travel of the thread-severing and extracting mechanism. 7 V

Fig. 8a is a perspective View of: the forepart of the book-pad showing the thread extracting member intermediate its stroke at the instant the severed thread end is withdrawn from the adjacent thread loop.

Fig. 8b shows the severed end of the thread completely extracted from the adjacent thread loop and thread extracting member.

Fig. 9 shows, in elevation, an alternative form of mechanism for carrying the invention into effect.

Fig. 10 is a view taken at right angles to Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 shows in diagrammatic plan view, a portion of a book-pad stitched with staggered or cross stitches and showing the interconnecting threads positioned on the thread guides preparatory to engaging the thread severing member.

Fig. 11a shows the threads severed and extracted from the adjacent thread loops.

Fig. 12 is a view, drawn to a larger scale, gr" a modified form of book engaging mem- Fig. 13 shows details of the thread selecting and trip-control members, and

Fig. 14 is an enlarged perspective view of the thread separating wedge used in the first embodiment of the invention.

Referring to Fig. 1, the book-pad B is shown stitched in the usual manner with a straight row of looped stitches and the thread 6 which, in this case, forms part of an idle stitch, comprises the interconnecting thread between the outer completely stitched book 0 and the remainder of the book-pad B. It will be appreciated that when the thread 6 is severed, either manually in known manner or mechanically as described in the specifications of the above mentioned applications, it will remain looped with loop 72, and hang in loop 9 of the adjoining stitch; consequently, before the book 0 is completely detached from the pad the thread 6 must be carefully extracted from the loop h. The extraction of the thread 6 from the loop 72, when correctly performed also serves "to tighten the loop 9 and thus lock the outer stitch of the separated book. The thread severing and extracting member may be arranged to move transversely to the bookpad in the direction of the arrow X (Fig. 1) and so perform the book segregating operation or, if desired, the mechanism may be arranged to operate in the vertical direction as indicated by the arrow Y (Fig. 1). It is sometimes necessary or desirable to insert cross or staggered stitches into the book sections. Such stitches may be inserted for the purpose of securing a backing strip to the book-pad or alternatively they may be used without a backing strip as a preferred form of stitching. When staggered stitches are used, the threads 6 of a transverse series of such stitches will fall alternately to left and right of the needle. The position of the point of severance of each thread 6 will therefore vary. It is manifestly difiicult and. when backing strips are used, impractical to operate the thread extracting member in the transverse horizontal direction and in this case the vertically operated form of thread extractor is utilized.

Referring to Figs. 1-8, a constructional form of the transversely operated apparatus is shown in which 10 represents the frame of a stitching machine and 11 is an oscillatory sheet carrier of known type which is adapted to convey book sections placed thereon to beneath the usual type of stitcher head or heads which are not shown in the drawings, but are associated with the eedle guide 12. The needle guide is located above a stacker table 12a and serves to support one or a series of brackets 13, according to the number of stitcher heads serving the machine. A rocking arm 14- is rotatably mounted on or adjacent to each bracket 13, the arms being se cured to a shaft 15 which is rotatably mounted in the brackets 13. A spiral spring 143 is secured to each arm 1 1 and anchored to the corresponding bracket 13. The arms 1 1 pulled by the springs 16 against lugs 17 which are also mounted on the brackets 13. A hooked thread guide 18 is provided on the under face of each bracket 13 and positioned to select if need be and to guide the interconnecting threads of the advancing book-pad B described in the above mentioned copending applications. A reciprocatory bar 19, slidably mounted upon arms depending from the frame 10, is positioned above and transversely to the path of travel of the bookpad. The slidable mounting is effected by means of cam slots 20, 21 provided in the bar 19 and engaging rollers 20a, 21a respectively, which are rotatably mounted in fixed positions upon the frame 10. One or a series of stops 22 are adj ustably mounted upon the upper edge of the bar 19, each stop being suitably positioned to engage the upper portion of a rocking arm ll. Thread severing and extracting members 23, corresponding to each rocking arm ant. associated stop are adjustably mounted upon the lo Yer edge of the bar 19. An upwardly extending slotted bracket 241 is rigidly fixed to the forward end of the bar 19 and a spiral. retractive spring 25 is secured at its ends to the bracket 24 and the frame 10 respectively. A bell-crank lever 26, which is pivotally mounted on a portion of the frame 10, has one upwardly extending arm connected to the slotted portion of the bracket 24, while the second arm thereof carries a roller or cam follower 2'? which engages an eccentric 28 mounted on or driven from the main drive shaft of the machine. The member 23 which, in this construction, is shown as a combined thread severing and extracting member, may be provided as a thread-extracting member only, in which case separate thread severing means would be used as described in the previously referred to specifications.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 14, it

'wedge shaped lug or finger 235 which is shaped at its upper extremity to form'a beak 230 while a thread severing knife blade 23a is formed integral with or attached to the free extremity of the bracket so as to project outwardly and substantially horizontally therefrom. The cutting edge of the knife blade 23a is inclined towards and meets the substantially vertical outer face of the wedge shaped lug 236 so as to engage .positively the,

thread to be severed.

The outwardly projecting knife 'blade23a is positioned so as to engage the thread 6 at the Joint 11 Fi 7 that is to sa 1 it en a es I 7 O 7 7 D b the outer edge of the portion of the thread which extends upwardly from the book-pad to loop over the guide 18. V

The operation of the device is as follows; The book sections are fed to the stitcher heads by means of the'sheet carrier 11 and stitched. After the assemblyof each book, an idle st tch is made as is usual in this type of stitching. During the continued stitching of the book sections and the consequent advance of the book-pad, the threads 6 of the idle stitches formed between each. two books are engaged in known manner by the thread guiding members 18; During the continued progression of the bookpad, the foremost thread 6 moving along the thread guide 18 encounters a downwardly extending rocking arm 14, the lower extremity of which is positioned in a recess in the corresponding member 18 (as shown in F ig. 13). The further travel of the leading thread 6 then rocks the arms 14 and shaft 15 as shown in Fig. 4 and so trips the upper portions 1 1a out of engagement with the abutting stops 22. When so released .the: bar 19 on which themembers23 are 5 carried is urged by the spring 25 to the right the leading book away from the remainder of the pad (Figs. 5, 6 and 7). The offset knife 23a, in this case forming part of each member 23, then encounters the interconnecting thread 6 at the point 21; (Fig. 7) and severs it.

1 In completing its transverse movement under the influence of the spring 25, the member 23 extracts the now severed thread 0 from the engaging loop 7 (Fig. 8). In so doing,

, the thread loop 9 of the last section of the separated book is tightened upon the thread 6 and thus locks the stitches which have been inserted in the book.

The manner of extracting the thread is as follows: When the thread (2 is severed at the point c, Fig. 7, the severed thread 6' comes to rest upon the separating member 23 which continues its operative movement and so engages with the wedge-shaped lug 23?) the doubled thread 6 at its point of interlooping with the thread loops 9 and h as shown in Fig; 8. The transverse movement of the wedge-shaped lug 23 serves to part the completely stitched book 0 from the remainder of the book-pad B so that the severed end of the thread 6 commences to withdraw through the loop 9, the severed thread-end meanwhile being supported by the member 23 toprevent its possible entanglement with the remaining portion of the idle stitch. I

The double lengths of the thread 6 now engag-ed by the member 23' lodge beneath the beak 23c and while in this position are drawn out into a loop of double threads as shown in Figs. 8a and 14:.

The force applied to the thread by the moving wedge shaped member 23 naturally results in a pull on the thread portions 6. and

62 in the direction of the-arrows, (Figs. 8

and 8a) thus drawingthe threads and partly closing the loop 9 while at the same time the loop h which the double thread embraces.

The severed end of the thread 0 when extracted from the loop 9 is caused by the continued travel of the member 23 to pass around the lug 23?) under the beak 230 and then around the loop it. During thismovement of the end of the thread 6 some part of the thread 6 must, of course, move in the opposite direction.. The opposed movements of the thread lengths e, 6 under the recessed beak portion 230 of the lug 23b and also the movement of the thread e around the tightly held thread loop It sets up a. comparatively large amount of friction which enables the member 23 to exert sufficient pull upon the thread lengths e, e easily to draw the loop g tight thus to lock the stitch.

As shown in Fig. 8?), when the member 23 completes its operative stroke the severed end of the thread 6 is drawn completely clear of the loops and'is thus enabled to drop clear of the member 23. I

During this operation, the eccentric 28 engages the cam follower 2 7 and retracts the .bar 19 when the thread severing and extracting movement of the bar 19 is completed. The rocking'arm'l l which is released by the severance of the thread is restored, by the pull of thespring 16, to its blocking position, i.e. bearing against the lug 17. The spring actuated bar is so prevented from moving to the right until the next book is suitably positioned, whereupon the now foremost idle stitch looped over the guide 18 again trips the lever 14. As we have previously mentioned, it is difficult to apply the above mechanism to the severance and extraction of threads which have been applied in cross or staggered formation in a book-pad While, if a backing strip is employed the above described mechanism is obviously impractical. In order, therefore, to apply this method to book-pads so prepared, the invention has been embodied in the mechanism shown in Figs. 9, 10 and 12.

According to this construction, vertical plates 30, 31 are mounted on the brackets 13 above and to either side of the book-pad. The plates are provided with arcuate guiding slots 33, 34 which extend transversely thereof towards the right-hand side (as viewed in Fig. 9). The slots 33, 34 are formed at their inner extremities with upwardly extending slots 33a, 34a. Pivotal stub shafts 41a, 42a extend through the slots 33, 33a and 34, 34a, respectively, and serve to carry on their inner extremities downwardly extending arms 41, 42. A transverse supporting bar extends between and is secured to the lower extremities of the arms 41, 42 which are provided with outwardly extending pivotal guide pins 39a, 40a adapted to engage guide slots 39, 40 formed in the lower parts of the plates 30, 31, respectively.

A helical tension spring 43 is anchored at one extremity to the plate 30 and secured at its further extremity to the arm 41 and a similar spring 44 is arranged in the same manner between the plate 31 and arm 42.

Link arms 35, 36 pivoted at one extremity to brackets secured to the machine frame, are each slotted at the further extremity thereof to engage the outer extremities of the pivotal stub shafts 41a, 42a, respectively.

The arm 36 is pivotally connected to a further downwardly extending link arm 37 which carries at its lower extremity a cam follower 37a adapted to engage the contour of a cam 38. The cam follower is mounted in a bearing which in turn makes a slotted connection with the arm 37 to accommodate the throw of the idle running cam 38 which is continuously driven in the usual manner from driving mechanism not shown.

The supporting bar 32 carries one or a series of book-engaging lugs 46 which may be adjustably or fixedly mounted thereon. Each lug 46 is carried at the free extremity of an arm attached to the bar 32 and comprises a downwardly extending wedge shaped member adapted by means of the above-described actuating linkage first to be moved downwardly to engage the foremost book or to be inserted between the foremost book and the remainder of the book-pad and then to be moved forward to force the foremost book away from the book-pad.

Projecting stops 22 are rigidly mounted on the bar 32 and adapted each to engage the nose of a pivotal spring held trip lever 14 which is suspended in the path of the thread loops moving along the guide member 18.

The trip control mechanism 14, 15, 16, 17 and 22 is adapted to operate in this construction in a similar manner to the control mechanism provided in the first described construction. The thread guide 18 in this constructional embodiment is adapted to be displaced laterally if need be to receive the thread to be severed and has mounted thereon a substantially vertical thread severing blade 45 (Figs. 9, 10 and 11). The latter is positioned directly in the path of the threads looped over and advancing along the guide 18 during the progress of the bookpad and thus serves to sever each thread in due course as these are brought into contact therewith.

The operation of a laterally displaceable thread guide for the purpose of engaging the threads of cross or staggered stitches is described in the second of the above mentioned co-pending applications.

In the operation of this embodiment, the thread 0 of the leading idle stitch trips the arm 14 and so frees the stop member 22 whereupon the thread-extracting members 46 are drawn downwards under the influence of the springs 43, 44 to be inserted between the foremost book of the book-pad and the remainder of the pad. The foremost book of the book-pad is thus pushed slightly away from the adjacent book, while the thread a is advanced to meet the thread-severing de- 1 vice 45.

At this juncture of the movement of the actuating linkage the stub shafts 41a, 42a enter the arcuate slots 33, 34 and thereupon move to the right so that the arms 41, 42 and bar 32 are rocked about the pivotal pins 39a, 40 and the book-engaging members 46 are moved forward in an arcuate path of travel. During the continued forward thrust of the thread extractors 46, the now severed book is pushed further forward in advance of the book-pad and the severed threads extracted as shown in Fig. 11a. The forward movement of the severed book, when a backing strip has been applied to the pad, is rendered possible by reason of the looping of the backing strip between the adjacent books as is usual in this type of book binding.

During the thread severing operation, the eccentric 38 engages the cam follower 37a and when the thread xtracting operation is completed, lifts the thread extracting mechanism once more to the inoperative position shown in Fig. 9.

When this mechanism is used to carry the invention into effect, it is not essential that the thread extracting members should engage directly between the last section of the book to be separated and the remainder of the book-pad. The action of the thread extractor will prove equally eflicacious if it engages any one of the sections constituting the book to be separated. Some slight difficulty may be experienced when applying a thread extractor of this type to a book-pad provided with a backing strip of gauze, for instance, since flimsy material of this nature is liable to tear easily. For this purpose we may provide a fitting for the thread extracting member as shown in Fig. 12. The fitting comprises a member 51 pivotally mounted on a clamping bracket or other means for attaching it to the bar 32 and providedwith a serrated underface which is adapted to engage the folded edges of the book sections or backing strip thereon and to be held in engagement therewith by means of a blade spring 52 which is secured at one extremity to the clamping bracket. The serrated face of the fitting 51 is 'thus pressed firmly againstthe book-back when brought into contact therewith as above described. After the severance of the thread 6 and during the spring-urged movement of the bar 32, the serrated face ofthe member 51 forces the leading book away from the book-pad and so extracts the severed threads as described.

. In describing the operation of the above mechanisms it has been assumed in each case that an idle stitch is provided between the adjacent books constituting the book-pad. The thread 6 which efi'ects, as described, the actuation of the thread-extracting mechanism, forms part of such a stitch but as is well known in the art the idle stitch is sometimes omitted when stitching a book-pad. In this case, the actuation of the thread-extracting mechanism could be controlled if necessary by hand from a control conveniently placed on the machine, or the method of thread extraction as described-in the co-pending application No. 515,067 above referred to, could be used. The interconnecting thread which is seized and guided upon the thread guide in this manner would eflect the control of the j thread-extracting mechanism when pushed into engagement with the arm 14.

a It will be appreciated thatthe principle involved in extracting, bymechanical means, the severed-threads between the adjacent books of a stitched book-pad is not limited 'to any one method of severing the threads which operation maybe effected either manually or by any known mechanical means without aifecting the spirit of the invention as defined by the claims.

e claim: V

1. A method of extracting, by mechanical means, j the severed interlooped terminal threads of the adjacent books of a stitched book-pad, which comprises engaging the foremost book of the book-pad with a separating member, severing the requisite thread during the movement of the separating member, and forcing the foremost book away from the remainder of the book-pad by means of the separating member to effect the extraction of the severed thread.

2. Apparatus for extracting the threadssevered between the adjacent books of a stitched book-pad, comprising a separating member, means for engaging the said separating member with the requisite book, and

means for actuating the said separating memher after the severance of the threads to withdraw the latter from the interdepending thread loops.

3. Apparatus for extracting the interlooped threads of the adjacent books of a stitched book-pad, comprising a separating member, a thread severing member adjacent the said separating member, means for engaging the separating member with the foremost book of the book-pad, means for engag- 1 ing the interconnecting threads with the said thread-severing means, and means for imparting movement to the said separating member so that the severed interconnecting threads are extracted from the interdepending loops.

4. Apparatus for extracting the interlooped threads of the adjacent books of a stitched book-pad, comprising a separating member, a thread severing member forming part ofthe said separating member, means for traversing the combined separating and thread-severing member relatively to the direction of travel of the book-pad, whereby the said interconnecting threads are severed member, means .for actuating the separating member from the machine drive, so that the threads when severed are extracted from the interdepending loops, and. means associated with the said thread guide to control the actuation of the said separating member.

6. Apparatus for extracting the severed inter-looped threads of .the adjacent books of a stitched book-pad, comprising a threadguide, a blocking member associated with saidthread guide, a movable supporting bar slidably mounted above the thread guide,

separating members adjustably mounted on the said supporting bar, stops adjustably mounted on the said bar to engage the said blocking members, means for tripping the said blocking members to permit the actuation of the supporting bar relatively to the movement of the book-pad.

7. Apparatus for extracting the interlooped threads of the adjacent books of a stitched book-pad, comprising a thread guide, a blocking member associated with the thread guide, a thread-severing member associated with the said thread-guide, a supporting bar slidabl v mounted above the said thread guide, separating members adjustably mounted on the supporting bar, stops adjustably mounted on the said supporting bar to engage the said blocking members, means for tripping the said blocking members out of engagement with the stops, means for actuating the supporting bar to engage the separating members with the said bookpad, and means for engaging the said thread severing means with the requisite interlooped thread.

8. In a book-stitching machine, apparatus for extracting the interlooped threads of the adjacent books of a stitched book-pad, comprising in combination, a stitching needle guide, slotted supporting plates secured to the said guide, a supporting bar slidably held in the slots of the said plates, separating members adj ustably mounted on the said supporting bar, a slotted rocking arm pivotally mounted at one extremity to the frame of the machine and connected at its slotted portion to the supporting bar, means for actuating the said supporting bar so that separating members held thereby are caused to displace the foremost book from the book-pad, means for actuating the rocking arm from the drive of the machine, and means for severing the interlooped threads as desired.

9. In a book-stitching machine, apparatus for extracting the interlooped threads of the adjacent books of a stitched book-pad, comprising in combination, a stitching needle guide, slotted supporting plates secured to the said guide, a supporting bar slidably mounted in the slots of the said plates, separating members adjustably mounted on the supporting bar, stop members adjustably mounted on the said supporting bar, a thread guide associated with the said needle guide, pivotally mounted blocking members engaging the said stops, means for tripping the said blocking members, means for actuating the said separating members from the main drive of the machine, and thread severing means associated with the said thread guide.

10. In a book-stitching machine, apparatus for extracting the interlooped threads of the adjacent books of a stitched book-pad, comprising in combination, a thread guide,

a supporting bar slidably mounted on the frame of the machine and positioned transverse to the path of travel of the stitched book-pad, separating members adjustably mounted on the said supporting bar, thread severing members adjacent the said thread guide, means for actuating the said separating members from the main drive of the machine, and means for timing the movement of the said separating members so that the latter extract the threads when severed from the interdepending loops.

11. In book-stitching machine, apparatus for extracting the interlooped threads of the adjacent books of a stitched book-pad, comprising in combination, a supporting bar slidably mounted on the frame of the machine and positioned transverse to the path of travel of the stitched bookpad, a combined thread severing and separating mem ber adjusiably mounted on the supporting bar, means for actuating the combined thread severing and thread separating member from the main drive of the machine, and means for timing the movement of the said combined thread severing and separating member so that the latter is interposed between the foremost book and the remainder of the book-pad for the purpose set forth.

12. In a book-stitching machine, apparatus for extractim the interlooped threads of the adjacent books of a stitched book-pad, comprising in combination, thread guides, a supporting bar slidably mounted on the frame of the machine and positioned transverse to the path of travel of the stitched book-pad, separating members adjustably mounted on the said supporting bar, thread severing members adjacent to the said thread guides, stops adjustably mounted on the said supporting bar, pivotally mounted blocking members adapted to engage the said stops, means for tripping the said blocking members during the progress of the book-pad, and means for actuating the separating members from the main drive of the machine.

13. A method of extracting, by mechani cal means, the severed interlooped terminal threads of the adjacent books of a stitched book-pad, which comprises interposing a separating member between the foremost book and the remainder of the book-pad, and then moving the said separating member so that the book is displaced from the bookpad at least adjacent its stitches and the terminal threads when severed extracted from the interdepending loops.

14. Apparatus for extracting the threads severed between the adjacent books of a stitched book-pad, comprising a thread extracting member, means for interposing said member between the foremost book and the remainder of the book-pad, and means for imparting movement to the said member so that it is caused to engage and extract from interdepending thread loops the severed threads.

15. Apparatus for severing and extracting and interconnecting threads of a stitched book-pad comprising a wedge shaped thread-handling member provided with a thread guiding beak and a thread severing blade, and means for interposing said thread handling member between adjacent books of a stitched book-pad and then imparting transverse movement thereto relative to the book-pad and interconnecting stitches there of.

16. Apparatus for extracting the threads severed between the adjacent books of a stitched book-pad, comprising a book-engaging claw, means for engaging said claw with the foremost part of a book-pad, and means for imparting forward movement to said claw so that the part of the book-pad engaged thereby is displaced relatively to the book-pad to withdraw from interdepending loops the severed threads.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures.

OSCAR KLEINSCHMIT. OSKAR MULLER. 

